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Monday, February 25, 2013

Review: Chew by John Layman and Rob Guillory

I
do not read that many graphic novels but I picked up the Chew books
due primarily to their heavy food content. The main character Tony
Chu is a F.D.A. Agent who is also a Cibopathic, which means he gets
psychic impressions from whatever he eats. The graphic novels are set
in the future, where chicken is outlawed due to the deaths that
resulted from the avian flu. The first volume entitled “Taster's
Choice” is basic and sets out back story of Tony Chu and his move
to the F.D.A. The second volume “International Flavor” sets up
the stories of the villains in more detail.

The villains in
the Chew graphic novels are fun because they are food based. The
first villain presents as a vampire but is actually a Cibopath, as he
can learn as much from blood as he can from flesh. I enjoy the
speciality talents that revolve around food in the Chew books. One
man is an cibolocutor which means that, as a mute, he communicates
solely through his cooking. Amelia Mintz (later to become Chu's
girlfriend) is a Saboscrivner, which means that she can write about
food so accurately and with such precision that people reading her
words get the actual sensation of taste when reading about the meals
she writes about.

The later volumes
of Chew are more fun than the first volume because they include more
surprisingly violent scenes. In the later volumes almost all of the
villains and allies have food related skills. This makes the graphic
novels more interesting to me. In general I find these graphic novels
refreshing and interesting. They would make an interesting addition
to any food lover's bookshelf!